Dockless bikes in San Diego improve transit choices. Adjusting to them is a necessary step.

Eduardo Contreras U-T

A person crosses 4th Avenue at G Street on an Ofo bike on March 1st in Downtown San Diego.

A person crosses 4th Avenue at G Street on an Ofo bike on March 1st in Downtown San Diego. (Eduardo Contreras U-T)

BETSY BRENNAN & COLIN PARENT

With the advent of smartphones and search engines, we expect more of what we want to be at our fingertips on a moment’s notice. Evolving and improving technology is changing our expectations. Increasingly, people want instant gratification and immediate convenience; to be able to move from here to there any way they please. Whether that is walking, bicycling, scootering, driving, or hopping on the trolley, diverse mobility options are essential for a vibrant, growing urban core. And though new options often bring along growing pains, they also offer new opportunities.

Recently, the dockless bicycle and scooter trend emerged in Downtown San Diego. This colorful collection of two-wheelers can’t be missed. As with any disruptive technology, a period of adjustment and learning is expected and, quite frankly, necessary.

Dockless bicycles and scooters can be a convenient solution to the first-mile and last-mile connection for commuters using public transit. They also offer yet another easily accessible mobility option for our urban community — one that can reduce our carbon footprint and ease road congestion.

However, without common sense by users, dockless bicycles and scooters can obstruct the pedestrian rights-of-way or become a nuisance to business owners. It is important that users act as considerate, law-abiding citizens. If you are wondering how you can be an avid bicycle and scooter user and a good neighbor, look no further. The Downtown San Diego Partnership put together a bulletin with some useful information for riders and community members. Additionally, rules of the road are conveniently provided on the dockless bicycle and scooter apps.

Downtown San Diego enjoys the most diverse and accessible public transit options in our region. Our community offers residents and visitors the choices they want — and need — to get around our ever-expanding neighborhood. Nearly two years ago, Civic San Diego launched a fleet of 15 fully electric FRED (Free Ride Everywhere Downtown) vehicles in Downtown to give free rides throughout our urban core. By the end of this year, there will be 20 vehicles operating on this flexible micro-transit system … with zero emissions.

The Metropolitan Transit System’s trolley is another growing and sustainable means of getting around San Diego’s urban center. By 2021, it will connect Downtown San Diego along a path that stretches from the Tijuana border to as far north as UC San Diego. The region’s premier transit option will ease commutes and foster collaboration between two of San Diego’s innovation hubs — Downtown and the Golden Triangle.

As with bicycle and scooter share, technology is transforming transit access as well. Transit agencies in San Diego have updated payment options to allow the purchase of transit fares from smartphones. Ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft also operate fleets in Downtown San Diego. A recent pilot project on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter is testing how to facilitate pick-ups and drop-offs with lesser impacts to traffic.

Mobility is key to a city’s economic and cultural success. A major reason so many businesses, restaurants, and residents choose to be located in San Diego’s urban core is because Downtown boasts the best transportation options in the region.

Innovations like dockless bicycles and scooters present new opportunities to improve transportation choices. Additionally, these GPS-enabled bicycles and scooters can provide data to cities and transit service providers to help inform infrastructure investment decisions — making sure our taxpayer dollars are spent in a smart and effective way.

Environmentally-friendly options — like bicycles, trolleys and FREDs — encourage us all to do our part to help achieve the goals Mayor Faulconer and the City Council established in San Diego’s Climate Action Plan. With the upcoming implementation of the city of San Diego’s Downtown Mobility Plan, combined with mobility efforts underway by both the Port of San Diego and the Regional Airport Authority, pedestrians and cyclists will have even more accessibility to Downtown San Diego and our surrounding communities.

Together, we can continue to promote responsible, innovative and diverse transit options in and around our urban core.

Brennan is president & CEO, Downtown San Diego Partnership; Parent is executive director & general counsel, Circulate San Diego.